Café Dance is dedicated to providing a space for people of all ages to explore the possibilities of movement. The community of professionals that practice at Café Dance independently offer a variety of classes including modern dance for children, modern dance for adults, yoga, and NIA technique. Take a moment to get to know our community members to find the right fit for you.
Kate Warren
Modern Dance, Yoga, & Senior Yoga
Kate Warren, dancer, teacher and Artistic Director of Circuitous Dance. Kate was born in Austin and attended Texas Tech University where she was trained as a repertory dancer. Over a span of 30 years she has danced with several companies and performed in works by many choreographers including Merce Cunningham, David Gordon, Margaret Jenkins, Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, Kathy Dunn Hamrick and Cheryl Chaddick. Kate is a member of Austin Arts Hall of Fame and her dances have received nominations for Best Choreography and Best Ensemble by the Austin Critics Table.
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Kathy Dunn Hamrick
Modern Dance
Kathy Dunn Hamrick is the Artistic Director of Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company, one of Austin’s longest-standing modern dance companies, and the Founder and Executive Director of Austin Dance Festival. Kathy’s original evening-length dances, described as “strikingly athletic and wonderfully expressive,” “heavenly,” “smart” and “masterly,” have garnered her numerous recognitions, including Austin Critics Table awards for Best Choreographer and Best Dance Concert. Kathy is also a member of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, having been recognized as “a model for the artist who approaches each project in a spirit of experimentation and reinvention.” She teaches at Café Dance and Austin Community College, provides professional development for educators, serves as a mentor for Austin Emerging Arts Leaders, and directs artist residencies for high schools and universities.
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For more information on the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company, visit their website.
Alyson Dolan
Modern Dance
Alyson Dolan has been recognized by The Austin Chronicle as a “key modern mover” for the “stamina, concentration, and big jar of real that she brings to the potluck.” Currently, her approach to choreography stems from ever-evolving sensation and sound based exploration, the empowerment and curiosity that dance has provided her, examining presence through performance, and her ongoing research and collaboration with musician/composer Drew Silverman and dancer/choreographer Lisa del Rosario. She has received two Austin Critics Table awards (Outstanding Dancer 2014, Outstanding Duet 2015), as well as the Jerry MacLauchlin Best in Fest award (254 Dance-Fest).
Alyson is in her eighth season with Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company, is an original member of the Austin Soundpainting Collective under the direction of Andrea Ariel, regularly presents her own work both in Austin and with Sarasota Contemporary Dance in Florida (serving as Resident Choreographer from 2012-2014), and is on faculty at St. Edward’s University and Cafe Dance. Dolan also appreciates yearly invitations to be Artist in Residence at institutions across the state including Texas A&M University, Texas State University, Austin Community College, Northwest Vista College, as well as Lamar Middle School and McCallum High School’s Dance Departments. Alyson admires the originality of Austin’s artists and feels honored when given the opportunity to add to the spread.
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Michele Owens
Children’s Modern Dance
Michele grew up in her mother’s dance studio, London School of Dance, in Dallas where she was inspired to continue dancing at the University of Texas and the University of Utah, earning an M.A. and the Dee R. Winterton Award for Excellence in Dance. Michele believes dance is a universal human experience that has the ability to touch all people regardless of age, background, or ability. In addition to teaching children at Café Dance, she directs the preschool dance program at Mt. Olive Lutheran School and is the founder and director of WINGS, a dance project for people with disabilities. Bold, kind, and dedicated, Michele transmits the joy and meaning of modern dance to students in an innovative, evolving, and loving environment.
Visit Michele’s website for more information about classes, registration, and payment options.
Charles MacInerney
Yoga: Expanding Paradigms
LEARN YOGA WITH ONE OF AUSTIN'S MOST EXPERIENCED AND RESPECTED TEACHERS.
Charles teaches yoga asanas in a nurturing and meditative style.
His primary goal is to help students improve their breathing and to increase their self-awareness, confidence, and independence.
Charles blends the precision of lyengar yoga with the well balance structure of the Himalayan Yoga tradition, and a playful, joyful approach to practicing yoga.
Visit Charles’s website for more information on classes, fees, and payment options.
Amanda Doan
Nia Technique
Several years ago a friend brought me to a NIA class. Instinctively I knew it’d be good to stay with it, not just for the exercise, but also to have an activity in my life that gave me room for creative expression. I believe in group exercise, because you just do more in a class than you would on your own. I enjoy dancing and moving with others. Teaching NIA has helped me stay commited to being healthy, and the joy of movement helps me get more out of life.
Through movement we find health. Good muscle tone keeps joints healthy and bones aligned.
All of the NIA moves are derived from nine classic movement forms: three each form the martial arts, the dance arts, and the healing arts.
These moves provide conditioning of the large muscle groups, as well as the small, intrinsic muscles close to the bone.
Making the movements an expression of you- your own unique rhythm, body language, and emotions allows you to be yourself and have fun.
All fitness levels welcome! Sundays 4-5 pm
$10 per class CASH or CHECK at the door
Email Amanda for more information. Visit the NIA website to learn more.